Kingdoms are a fragile thing. One wrong piece of negative news may cause a revolt or bring a kingdom to its knees. So when the Kingdom of Crim’s most trusted adviser to King Seifay, Alus, was awoken in the middle of the night, he felt anxious.
“Wake up! Master Alus, awaken! Something has happened to the king!” Alus opened his eyes and saw one of the Royal Guard, recognizable by the thick black armor they wore, standing at his bedside. He was sweating and looked downright afraid.
“What do you mean something has happened to His Royal Majesty?”
“It’s dire.”
“Out with it. What has happened?” Alus was not one for games. He liked the truth and he liked it fast.
“His Majesty has been vexed by a terrible curse. He has transformed into a large bird.”
Alus sat up quickly. His eyes flung open with all signs of sleepyness gone. He thought about what to do and stroked a small black beard that was graying. He seemed to be calculating the political consequences of the king becoming a bird. After all, if news got out that the king had been transformed into a bird it would cause political unrest. Enemies of the king may attempt an assassination or a complete kingdom takeover. The situation had to be handled carefully. He also knew he had to get help.
“Send word to all our allies and ask for brave adventurers to come forth. We will need help with this matter.” He paused for a moment, then added “be sure no one knows about this except the leaders of our allies’ towns. I will explain the matter to the adventurers who come forth personally.”
“Yes master Alus.”
The guard left Alus’ bedchamber. Unable to sleep now, Alus got up and paced. Finally he drew the curtains to his massive window back and looked out over the kingdom in the night.
The Kingdom of Crim was the largest and strongest of kingdoms on the continent of Iwote. The kingdom, found in the north-western corner of Iwote, was a technological marval. Unlike the other towns and villages of Iwote, Crim’s success and rise to power was mostly due to the large machines built to automate many of the everyday tasks of the kingdom. These machines were created and maintained by engineers–a profession that very few took up and even fewer were any good at. Those that did take up the difficult profession were drawn to Crim in a desperate attempt to join the world’s only engineering school.
The castle of Crim sat on the top of a large mountain, most of which that was carved out to house homes and shops. The castle was run by King Seifay, a kind and just ruler. The people were shocked when Seifay was named as the next heir to the throne but just a year after his rule began, there were none in the kingdom that did not praise his name.
Alus pulled his curtains returning his bed chamber to darkness. Help would come. It had to.
